061116-LoHaH I: Timekeeper
LoHaH (GM): Nyarla. You had said you went back to your ransacked hive. We established that nearly all of your belongings had been stolen. What are you doing? Nyarla: He's scurrying around, taking inventory. Finding nothing, I assume. He actually had traps in front of his treasure room, they probably didn't hold up though. LoHaH (GM): You can see traces of blood, but not much, on your traps. Sadly, there's nothing anywhere. Not even your lusus. The silence of the land has started to become unnerving. Nyarla: Nyarla extends his senses, attempting to feel the flow of time on the planet. Determine if it's still moving regularly. LoHaH (GM): Time is stopped. Completely. You can feel that it has been stopped for a while, probably close to after your double death. "Well....fuck. Saw that one coming." He's going to leave the hive. Take a leisurely stroll looking for any signs of, probably frozen, life. LoHaH (GM): Leaving the hive, everything is still silent. Not even a breeze blows to break the stillness. Roll me a notice. LoHaH (GM): In the distance, you think you can see a red dot, The more you look at it, it seems to be moving toward you. Nyarla: Is there anything to duck behind? LoHaH (GM): There are some boulders of hematite around. Nyarla: Nyarla ducks behind one of the boulders, waiting until the dot is close enough to properly identify. LoHaH (GM): Still far in the distance, it appears to be someone in a red cloak. And you think you recognize those pants. Those are your pants! You also notice something catching light every now and then under the hood. It appears to be a thin figure. Nyarla: He glares at first, but takes a breath to calm himself. He's leaves his hiding spot, heading forwards calmly to meet with the figure. LoHaH (GM): It waves at you, and picks up the pace a bit to meet you. Nyarla: He waves back, putting on a smile. He looks the figure up and down again as they get closer. "Nice duds." Leiko: "Thank you! I got them after the Timekeeper died!" The figure says, close enough for you to identify as female. "I'm Leiko. Who are you?" Nyarla: He gives a wry smirk. "Your Timekeeper, I assume." Leiko: "No, not really. I mean, the Timekeeper is dead. If the Timekeeper was alive, the villages wouldn't be fulfilling the prophecy." She shrugs. LoHaH (GM): She stops when she's standing about 6 feet from you and folds her arms. You can see some of your fancy jewelry on her as well. Nyarla: "I mean, I am dead, yeah. Just...there's a long story behind all this okay? What prophecy?" He eyes the jewelry. "Tch, is nothing sacred?" Leiko: "What does a dead person need with anything anyway?" She gives the sass right back, tapping her foot a little, "You know, the End Times. What kind of Timekeeper are you pretending to be anyway?" Nyarla: He shrugs and then smirks. "I like to be fresh to death." The smirk falls. "An absentee Timekeeper here to fix everything? You can just call me Nyarla though." Leiko: She rolls the name around in her mouth a few times, and fails to get it correct. "I like Nyanya better. So we're going to go with that." She pauses a moment, "So... you're really here to try to fix the End Times?" She looks him over, almost circling him to take in all angles, then frowns and returns to folding her arms. Nyarla: He sighs at the name, but says nothing about it. "Yeah, I am." He stands still for the ocular investigation, folding his own arms when it's done. "Mind letting me know where I can start this grand quest of mine?" Leiko: "Technically never, but that's not my fault." She turns around and starts walking away from you. "The Resting Place of the Timekeeper is broken. Its how we knew you were dead. None of our legends have anything about the Spirit of Time doing anything." She waves him off. Nyarla: He follows after her. "First Time for everything." Leiko: She cringes. "Oh Dear Mother, puns are the worst." Nyarla: "Heh, well can you take me to this 'Resting Place'? I won't make anymore on the trip there." Leiko: "I guess. I mean if you're really set on trying to fix it. I've already tried, but it's beyond my power." She continues to walk. Far in the distance you can see a large patch of mist that seems to have settled right on top of the ground, and you seem to be heading toward it. Nyarla: "This planet's inhabitants have power too?" Leiko: "What? Them? Psshhhhh." Nyarla: He eyes the mist. "Them? So you're not a consort?" Leiko: "Of course not. Do I look like a consort to you? I swear, people just never want to understand things in ways that make sense." She kicks a few pebbles of hematite off the ground, and they scatter and magnetize to themselves farther away. Nyarla: "I haven't seen the consorts myself, I don't exactly have a frame of reference here." He stoops down to grab two of the pebbles off the ground, turning them over in his hands, letting them softly clack against each other. "So what's up with that mist across the way?" Leiko: "You'll see when we get there, eventually!" She starts walking backwards and you can see a sort of smile growing. Nyarla: "Eventually?" He raises an eyebrow at her. Leiko: "Yeah, I mean, there's like, some big process you were supposed to get pushed through when you were alive, so I guess we have to hold up to it since you're kinda... Still trying to go through the motions. So if you're playing it that way, I have to play it that way." She faces forward again. "What made you want to come here? Just like watching things die?" Nyarla: "As exhilarating as watching things die sounds, I'm here to put the kibosh to that. And get on with that big process you brought up." "I'm here on an intense journey of self discovery and growth. For the fate of myself and all life in this realm." Leiko: "If you like watching things die..." She stifles a giggle. "That sort of big talk doesn't suit you. I mean, C'mon. If you were so important, why would all life have let you die?" A small hut is visible in the distance. And several others after it. The mist is still quite far off. Nyarla: "Psh, they're not great, but they brought me back to quasi-living enough to finish things here." Leiko: "Yeah, I dunno. It's boring here." You both eventually come across the first hut, on what appears to be the outskirts of a village, and Leiko sidesteps inside. "Besides, this is just a quest for you. And its not even your quest anymore." Nyarla: "It's not?" Leiko: "You're dead." She calls from inside the hut. Nyarla: "Fair enough. Death won't stop me though." "May I come in?" Leiko: "I don't care, it's not mine." Nyarla: He shrugs and steps inside. Leiko: She picks up a little box on the table and tosses it into the air, where it freezes in place. "Ugh." Nyarla: He eyes the frozen box. "Any idea how to get this place un-frozen in time?" He focuses on the box, willing it to un-freeze. Leiko: "You'd probably have to go talk to Mother." She rolls her eyes. Leiko: The box falls to the ground and breaks open. It looks like it was a music box of some sort. Leiko collects the gears it scatters across the ground. Nyarla: "Hehe, whoops." He scratches the side of one of his horns, sheepishly. "So, uhh, who's Mother?" Leiko: "She's... like the big lady around here. Villagers think she's a goddess. I think she's uptight, honestly." Leiko pockets the gears and leaves the hut. She enters another one. Nyarla: "Did she ever have anything to say about the Timekeeper? Any choice words?" He follows her. "Are you looting or something?" Leiko: She rolls her eyes, "I told you this place was boring." Leiko opens a box in this hut, containing some salted meat. She pockets this too. "Can you check up in the roost?" Nyarla: He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess." He does indeed check the roost for swag to swipe. Leiko: Its a nest area in the upper portion of the hut. All you find are feathers. Nyarla: He takes a feather back down stairs with him, inspecting it. "Just feathers. Great find if you're in the market for making pillows." Leiko: "That's like saying I want to make cups out of your horns. Morbid! I like it!" Nyarla: "I guess my consorts are the birds who left these? At least if I can't save the planet I can turn a profit." Leiko: She flops down on the ground and grabs a bit of the jerky to eat. "Look, I don't really want to do this whole process thing. I thought it was going to be all neat and mystical and I would be good at doing the whole patience thing. I'm sooo bored already. Just." She throws her head back, "Ask the questions already, I want to leave." Nyarla: "No patience for the Timekeeper, ain't that ironic? What's that process and how do I get it started? Where's this Mother? How do I save this planet? Etcetera, etcetera." Leiko: "I told you, you aren't the Timekeeper anymore." She grumbles. "The process can't REALLY start, if I'm honest. Mother is somewhere hidden. That I HAVE to help you with. And your methods of saving the planet will probably be different than mine. Etcetera etcetera." She says the last two works mockingly. words* Nyarla: "I already said it, death won't stop me. Can you take me to Mother so I can get reinstated or whatever? Then I can try my hand at saving this place, since yours didn't work. And etcetera, etcetera." Leiko: "Nyanya, I guess you're not the thinking type. That's okay though." Leiko stands up and tosses the box from the counter at his face. and it stops right in front of him. Nyarla: He rolls his eyes as he steps out from in front of the box, poking at it as it floats. "So what do you want from me?" "You wanted to hear my questions, I asked them." Leiko: "They were all about you! I'm interesting too!" Nyarla: "Certainly. I like you better than half my team." Leiko: She mimics his voice "Oh hey, Leiko, why are you moving about freely when the wind doesn't even blow? Leiko, why are you bored? How long has it been like this?" Nyarla: "I like to take things in stride. Curiosity is what killed me, like that meowbeast you named me after." "Hey Leiko, why are you immune to the planet being frozen?" He's mimicking her mimicking him, now Leiko: "Ask that one last!" She perks up, despite his tone. Nyarla: "Why the mask?" Leiko: "Hmm? That's not on the list. I don't know. I like it. I wanted to blend in. Made me feel better to belong to something, I guess, at least for a little bit." "Do another!" Nyarla: "Why are you so bored? Aside from everything being frozen, aren't there any time pranks you can pull?” Leiko: "I mean, we can technically do anything we want. When you died, the land had no owner. So its mine now!" "But I've tried everything except pushing it further along in time. Cause it'll finish dying, obviously." Nyarla: "Are you the one who preserved it?" Leiko: "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not completely. I'm not that strong." "It's going to die no matter what we do, unless we find a way to fix that quest bed." Nyarla: "What's the quest bed? And what's wrong with it?" Leiko: "The quest bed is a thing for the Timekeeper. Right now, since I own the planet, that's me. But I'll let you use it. And it has to be intact in order for someone to gain their full power. It sounds super weird, but you have to die on it. But its not a real death, its more like a gesture to show you CAN be a real hero." "Since you're already dead, I figure you can just touch it." Nyarla: His eyes widen. "...Godtier." Leiko: "I guess. But you have to let me go first. It's my land now." Nyarla: "So...you're my replacement player?" Leiko: "I wouldn't say THAT.... It's more like... You and I are equals burdened with the authority of time. I just happen to be more alive than you." She shrugs. Nyarla: "I see... Do you have title aside from Timekeeper?" Leiko: "Nope, just Leiko. Did you have another one?" Nyarla: "Mage of Time." "And few others that probably don't matter right now." Leiko: "Oooh, that kind of title." "My dad told me to keep that one to myself. Said it was dangerous to talk about it" Nyarla: "Well, I'm no danger to you." Leiko: She squints at him. "I'll tell you if we get the bed fixed, okay?" Nyarla: "I'll hold you to that, yeah?" He mimics the squint. Leiko: "Alright. Anyway. The question you forgot to ask was how long it's been. So for us here, on this land, you've been dead for a few months. I got a feeling that was the wrong timeflow. How long has it been for you?" Nyarla: He's taken aback at that. "It doesn't feel like much more than a day or two has gone by." Leiko: "Must be nice getting to come here so soon!" "I mean, I guess we all would have preferred if you did it before you died, but still. I think we have a chance if we can talk Mother into it." Nyarla: "Better late than never has never been more true." "Insert time pun here." Leiko: "Just, don't forget me. I'm important too. Okay?" Leiko motions for him to follow her, and she exits the hut. Nyarla: "'Course not. You know the place better, got dibs on the bed first, and all that." He follows her. Leiko: "You'd better not cross me, Nyanya." She sticks her tongue out. Nyarla: "Scout's honor." Leiko: "What's a scout?" Nyarla: "Not important. Point is, you have my word." He extends his hand, as if expecting a handshake. "As long as you do right by me, I'll do right by you." Leiko: "So I'll hold you to this then." she shakes his hand. Her fingers are a little longer than you expected, but the grip is also a bit more firm than it had any right to be, at least for someone of her build. Nyarla: "Firm grip. You must be strong." He let's go after not too long. Leiko: "Strong enough!" Eventually you all reach the other side of the village, getting much much closer to the mist. As you near it, you can see a huge dark mass in the center of it. Nyarla: "Leiko...what's that?" Leiko: "That's the End Times. It's part of that process I was kinda hinting at not too well. It's really kind of neat, c'mon, I'll show you!" She grabs his wrist and drags him into the cloud, which you can see is more of a glittery dust of hematite flake, with some paths already made by something. Do you resist being pulled? Nyarla: No. Leiko: She drags you into the dustcloud, and the dark mass becomes clearer. Thousands of bird-like people are frozen in the midst of war. Mother birds clutch their hatchlings to their breasts and wield a spear in the other. Males stab various polearms at their enemies. Each bird at the bad end of a strike, the scene is a bit horrifying. As far as you can tell, the only difference between most of these birds is that some have blue feathers and some have red. Nyarla: He's somewhat awestruck at the frozen carnage. "Is this that prophecy you mentioned?" Leiko: "It's the End Times! You know... The Timekeeper dies, the world is plunged into peril. Dying at the hand of your enemy is honorable, so this is their end." Leiko is readjusting a spear to aim better at its target. Nyarla: "That explains the reds and blues. They were already at war?" Leiko: "Always. What do you think the Hatred stood for? It was just never in this... well it wasn't ever every single avian from both villages." Nyarla: "I expected some kind of angry bullshit, but even the hatchlings are on the battlefield." Leiko: "It's really pretty once you take the whole mortality thing out of the equation." "Like, they either die with the land, or they die on their own terms. It's kind of poetic!" Nyarla: "Yeah, I can empathize with them. Really really well." "Still have to save them though. Somehow." "At least give them until a proper battle instead of glorified suicide." Leiko: Leiko nods. "I'm going to keep looking around. If you need me, I'm going to be at the main clash point." She points at a particularly gritty looking scuffle. Nyarla: "Yeah, I...kinda wanna see if some of them might have my stuff." "Pro-tip, you actually can take it with you when you go." He walks off towards a random hut. Category:Leiko Category:Nyarla